


How I Got My New Roommate (Who Was Dead)

by thishazeleyeddemon



Series: The Ghostly Files [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Creepy Fluff, Gen, Ghosts, Meet-Cute, Other, Past Character Death, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-26
Updated: 2015-07-26
Packaged: 2018-04-11 06:58:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4425800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thishazeleyeddemon/pseuds/thishazeleyeddemon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I woke up to a ghost standing by my bed. I wasn't expecting her to trip over her own dress.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How I Got My New Roommate (Who Was Dead)

I woke up to a ghost standing beside my bed.

She had a long white dress that reached down to her feet, long, black hair, like seemingly every other ghost girl in existence. Her eyes glowed a sharp, icy blue, and her white dress was covered in a red liquid. I don’t think it was pomegranate juice.

I didn’t move. I couldn’t move. Something in me refused to. Some ancient instinct froze my body and I could only watch in helpless terror as the ghost approached.

I must say, I wasn’t expecting her to trip over her own dress. 

As she came towards me, her face a grim rictus of death, eyes wide and mouth gaping, breath a-rattle, she tripped. She stepped on the hem of her dress and went smack into the floor. 

I stayed still for a few more seconds, listening to muffled swearing. I think I was in shock. Her voice was actually pretty, high and clear. It had this horrible ethereal quality that sent chills up my spine, but I was willing to overlook that. 

Finally, I could move again. I leaned over the side of the bed.

She was sitting on the floor, rubbing her forehead.

‘Uh.’ My voice sounded weak. She didn’t look at me. 

I tried again. ‘Uh, do you need help?’ I asked, cautiously. That caught her attention. She looked up at me, and I tried to ignore the spike of terror at her piercing gaze. 

‘I…’ Her voice was strange. It sounded like it was coming from somewhere very far away. Then she shook her head, as if to clear it, and spoke again. 

‘I’m fine. Sorry about that,’ she added. 

The death rattle had gone. It struck me that she was not nearly as monstrous in appearance as she had first appeared. Her eyes, while unnatural, were kind of pretty. I’d always liked blue. It struck me that she didn’t look much older then sixteen, at the most. The terror I’d first felt at her presence was slowly receding, although I still felt nervous. I could see through her, to the hardwood floor.

‘Sorry about what?’ I asked.

‘Tripping. It’s my first haunting, and you know how it is with new things, right? You always go and mess it up. I probably should have started out with cold spots and rattling pans but you know that’s just so  _typical,_ you get me, right? I thought a personal appearance would be a nice touch, a good start, you know? But I suppose I’ve gone and mucked it up.’ She gave me a tentative smile. ‘I don’t suppose you’d want to let me try again?’

‘Not a chance.’ 

‘Didn’t think so.’ She extended a hand, and I pulled her up, trying not to shudder at the touch of her hand. A dead body made of mist is the best way I can describe how she felt.

Once she was standing, we looked at each other awkwardly, neither of us seeming to know what to say.

‘I think I should be clear,’ I said. ‘You don’t want to kill me, do you?’ 

She looked horrified. ‘No! Stuff like that isn’t allowed and anyway I’m only a first-time haunt. I’m practically alive. You could probably ward me off with a stick even if I did try anything.’

‘Right.’ I reached over for my phone, which I keep on the nightstand next to me while it charges during the night, and turned it on. She watched me with interest while I checked the time and when the sun would rise.

‘Kid, sunrise is in ten minutes. You ghosts don’t like that, right?’ 

Her curious expression changed to one of alarm. ‘WHAT?’

I must say, I’m probably the first person in history to see a ghost panic. As it turns out, they do it more or less like everyone else. It’s just living people don’t end panicked tirades with running through the wall and a yelled promise to come back the next night.

I had a feeling I was going to be panicking in the morning, but it was like five in the morning and I was too tired for this. I laid my head back on my pillow and dropped almost immediately into mental darkness.

I didn’t dream.

* * *

As it turns out, I didn’t have a panic attack in the morning. This may be because I was in firm denial over everything that had transpired. I managed, all throughout the grueling workday, to convince myself that it was a dream. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. To be fair, even clumsy ghosts are a welcome thought when the rest of your day consists of repeatedly telling people that harassing the feminine co-workers is a no and signing paperwork. 

Other then that, the day was fairly uneventful. I managed to put the ghost kid out of my mind until midnight. It wasn’t a workday tomorrow, and I planned to finally take a few hours to relax, eat some Ben and Jerry’s, and watch  _Supernatural_ on Netflix. 

I was adjusting my chest binder when from behind me:

‘What’s that you’re wearing?’ 

I almost jumped out of my skin. ‘AAAAHHH!’ 

I spun. The ghost kid was there, but she looked different. Her hair was neatly brushed and tied back with an elastic, her skin was, well, not rotted and her clothes were jeans, sneakers, and a green t-shirt instead of a bloodstained white dress. She was still clearly dead, I could see through her, but she looked distinctly more normal.

I’d intended to yell at her, but what came out of my mouth was, ‘You look different.’

‘Hm?’ She looked down at herself. ‘Oh, that was just a costume. I don’t look scary enough to be a haunt like this.’ She looked at me. ‘Still didn’t answer my question.’

‘It’s a chest binder. Keeps my boobs flat until I can pay for surgery. I’m a trans guy,’ I added. 

‘Huh.’ She tilted her head. ‘I knew a trans guy when I was alive. His name was Marco only his parents called him Marcie and he was super nice, you know? He’d come over to my house and we’d play video games all the time and he’d help me with my literature homework because it was so boring reading the same stuff over and over again. It’s like, Romeo was actually kind of a creep, why does no one get that’s it’s not romantic?’

‘I used to think it was a story of the destructiveness of youthful love,’ I said, mostly without thinking. 

She scoffed. ‘Please, it’s totally about obsession and how foolish it is to mistake lust for love and how silly sacrificing yourself for someone else is.’

We looked at each other. 

‘You wanna watch Supernatural?’ I asked. In the back of my mind, I did realize I was talking to a dead girl, but she seemed nice enough, and she knew Shakespeare. I was having a hard time reminding myself why this was a bad idea.

She grinned. ‘Sure!’

She flopped on the couch next to me, making no sound at all, and watched as I flicked through the options, trying to find  _Supernatural_. 

‘I was meaning to ask,’ I said as I scrolled. ‘When did you die? I thought 1800s but now…’

‘Nineteen ninety-three,’ she said casually. ‘Freak theater accident. I don’t really want to talk about it.’

‘Fair enough. What did you mean, first-time haunt?’ 

‘Well, as us ghosties get longer in the tooth, farther away from our death, we get less human. I don’t mean we turn into ravaging monsters or anything, we just kinda get more, well, weird, you know? Some of the older ghosts you could only hurt with iron, fire, or salt, whereas I,’ she paused to dip her finger in my tub of ice cream, and eat some, ‘could be dispelled by thinking very hard about how this is your house and yours alone and only you are able to cross the threshold.’

‘Fascinating. So it’s almost like mimicking the process of physical decay?’

‘Yeah, I guess.’

‘What’s your name, kid?’ I finally found our show and clicked on the episode I wanted. Gabriel was always good for a few laughs, and I wanted to see the Sampala again.

‘Uh.’ I glanced at her, and she looked uncomfortable. I almost had to concentrate to see her, as it looked like she was melting into the shadows. Literally.

‘I can’t tell you,’ she muttered. 

‘What do you mean?’ 

‘If you have someone’s name, you can control them,’ she whispered. 

Well then. ‘Fine. Can you give a word to call you, then?’

She was silent for a few minutes. ‘Tessa, maybe,’ she said. ‘Raven. Delaney. Keira. Any of those would do. I’ve always wanted to be named Delaney but my dear old dad didn’t like the idea.’

‘Delaney it is, then. And if we’re making up names then I’m Sagittarius.’ 

‘Like the constellation?’

‘Yes. Plus, I’m not a bad archer. Now, sit down and watch some brothers angst over absolutely nothing at all.’

* * *

Sure, it might be a little weird I have a ghost for a roommate, but the way I see it, she's pretty nice, you know? Sure, she's weird, and creepy, and makes cold spots and messes with my appliances, but she's my friend. I trust her; I'd hate to give her up.

And I'm not actually sure I can make her leave without an exorcist, so it's not like I have much choice in the matter.

This is the newly-christened Sagittarius, signing off.


End file.
